Dunford observes Iraqi armor exercises
 
  
  **BESMAYA RANGE, Iraq (April 21, 2016)  —**
Under a broiling sun, Iraqis of the 9th Armored Division await 
their turn to drop into the turrets of their T-72 training tanks and 
fire the coaxial machine guns. The Iraqis are training at this range under the eyes of 300 
Spanish, 80 British and 35 American soldiers, and of Marine Corps Gen. 
Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is here to 
see how the training is going. The Iraqis are motivated. The Spanish officer in command of the
 Besmaya training effort said he expected 800 Iraqis to show up for the 
four-week course at the beginning of April. One thousand came. **Year of Liberation** The Iraqis training at the range are mostly new recruit, who will be based in Camp Taji when they finish training. Iraqi Maj. Muhammed Abdel Kadir of the 2nd Battalion of the 9th
 Iraqi Armored Division spoke to reporters traveling with Dunford. 
Through an interpreter, he said the unit began training at the beginning
 of the month. The men train on four T-72s, two M-1 Abrams tanks and in 
three BMPs – Russian-made infantry fighting vehicles. The men are being paid, the major said, and supplies and 
logistical support is improving. The soldiers received M-16 rifles and 
learned the care and maintenance those weapons need, and they qualified 
in firing it. They also familiarized themselves with other small 
weapons. All expect to be part of the coming battle against the Islamic 
State of Iraq and the Levant. “This is the year of the liberation of 
Mosul,” one of the men said. But there are still things that need to be 
done. The most glaring is there are no 125 mm rounds for the T-72 
tank’s main gun. The unit, which will fall in on T-72s when they get to 
Camp Taji, has not fired the main gun. **Major Impediment** All this points to a major impediment to the Iraqi soldier’s 
wish to liberate Mosul this year. “We have said time and again 
Napoleon’s old saying ‘Amateurs talk strategy, experts talk logistics,’”
 said Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, who spoke to reporters earlier in the day. “It’s an incredibly important aspect they have to master.” The Iraqis have 125 mm ammunition somewhere in their system, a 
Spanish official said, but they just can’t seem to deliver it 
efficiently. American officials have talked on logistics and aviation being 
“the long poles in the tent” for Iraqi security forces for years. And 
the situation has improved. In the early days of the rebuilding, many 
soldiers weren’t paid. Units didn’t have the manning they were supposed 
to have. Iraqi soldiers hardly ever did regular “operator maintenance” 
on weapons systems or vehicles. All these things are improving, 
officials said. **Depot Maintenance** But depot level maintenance, getting supplies -- bullets, 
gasoline and beans -- from point A to point B, and ensuring soldiers 
have what they need when they need it, are still works in progress. 
Investing in these capabilities to be successful against ISIL, though, 
remains the long pole in the tent. The Iraqi military has to build up the logistics tail to 
support operations directed at Mosul before it can take on ISIL in the 
city, which is roughly 300 miles north of Baghdad. Tanks and tracked 
vehicles cannot just drive there, as much of their useful lives would be
 used up completing the journey. The Iraqis will have to ship the tanks 
and tracked vehicles to the north -- along with spare parts, tools and 
other maintenance equipment they will for the vehicles -- to preserve 
the capability and capacity of their new mobile force. To do so, the Iraqi government has to establish logistics hubs in 
the north to support any offensive against ISIL. Camp Speicher near 
Tikrit is an obvious depot, officials said, and another obvious point is
 Makhmur in the Irbil governate. “But it has to be the Iraqis who do 
this,” Warren said.